[coreboot] Supported laptops (again), treacherous computing

[Nikita Karetnikov]

I'm looking for an x86_64 laptop to try Coreboot.  I've looked through
the archives [1,2] and the wiki [3]; it seems the most popular machines
are x60s and t60.

However, these machines are shipped in different configurations [4,5].
This page [6] mentions Core Duo Mobile L2300, which has a 32-bit
instruction set [7], so I'm not really interested.  And this one [8]
says about Core 2 Duo T7200 [9] and Core 2 Duo Mobile L7400 [10] (each
has a 64-bit instruction set).  Is there a configuration that doesn't
require non-free [11] components?  It's not clear from this page [12].
And this answer [13] is a bit confusing because it just mentions x60,
not a particular configuration.  Is there a need to worry about
microcode or EC?  Are there any plans regarding them?  For example, even
"the first fully free laptop" has freedom-related issues with EC [14].

Also, this processor [10] has so-called embedded options.  I'm a bit
concerned.  I don't have any personal experience with such technologies,
but these links [15--19] are scary.  Could anyone elaborate?  For
instance, this page [16] says that one can remotely enable AMT even if
it was disabled in BIOS.  Can Coreboot permanently disable such
"features"?  Can it disable DRM [20]?

TL;DR: I'm looking for an x86_64 laptop that should work with Coreboot,
shouldn't have nasty "features," shouldn't refuse to boot if I replace a
component, and shouldn't require non-free software to run.

[1] http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2013-June/076058.html
[2] http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2013-June/076070.html
[3] http://www.coreboot.org/Laptop#Laptops_with_coreboot_Support
[4] http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X60s
[5] http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T60
[6] http://www.coreboot.org/Thinkpad_X60s
[7] http://ark.intel.com/products/27228/Intel-Core-Duo-Processor-L2300-%282M-Cache-1_50-GHz-667-MHz-FSB%29
[8] http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards#Laptops
[9] http://ark.intel.com/products/27255/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T7200-4M-Cache-2_00-GHz-667-MHz-FSB
[10] http://ark.intel.com/products/28026/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-L7400-4M-Cache-1_50-GHz-667-MHz-FSB
[11] https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw
[12] http://www.coreboot.org/Thinkpad_X60s#proprietary_components_status
[13] http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2013-June/075948.html
[14] http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Hardware/Freest#Lemote_Yeeloong_8089_and_8101
[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_vPro#Security_and_privacy_concerns
[16] http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Security-Malware/Intel-AMT-backdoor-enabled-by-default/td-p/824749
[17] http://linux.die.net/man/7/amt-howto
[18] http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide/DOCS/Implementation%20and%20Reference%20Guide/WordDocuments/accessingintelamtviathewebuiinterface.htm
[19] http://software.intel.com/sites/manageability/AMT_Implementation_and_Reference_Guide/DOCS/Implementation%20and%20Reference%20Guide/WordDocuments/setupandconfigurationofintelamt.htm
[20] http://www.defectivebydesign.org/
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